A few hours after saying a Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole collaborative album would never happen, Top Dawg Entertainment president Punch walked back his hardline declaration a bit. The TDE exec went from a stance of “never” to “never say never” on Wednesday night (May 20).

“Nah I don’t know,” he wrote via Twitter. “It might still happen. I want it to happen.”

Read HipHopDX’s original story about Punch crushing hopes for the collab LP below.

[This post has been updated. The following was originally published on May 20, 2020 at 5:30 p.m. PST.]

Top Dawg Entertainment president Punch stomped on the dreams of fans wishing for a Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole collaborative LP. The TDE exec shut down prospects of the long-rumored collab while interacting with some Twitter users on Wednesday (May 20).

After being pestered by multiple people about K. Dot, Punch asked one of them, “What do you want with him?” The person responded by pleading for a three-track EP from Lamar and Cole.

Rumors about Cole teaming with Lamar for a project have persisted for years. Cole once claimed a collab album was “absolutely gonna happen” in 2012. TDE’s Ab-Soul also insisted they had “something in the works” on The Breakfast Club in 2016.

But as time has passed, Cole admitted an album with Lamar was unlikely. In a 2018 interview with Angie Martinez, he said it became less feasible due to their careers and family responsibilities.

“It’s not like it’s something that’s actively happening,” he told Martinez. “Not because it’s never gonna happen … I don’t like teasing or playing the game ’cause this has been going on for a minute.”